Saving Chance
by Corade
Summary: A series of cases of children showing up injured near the Cullen's leads to them stumbling across a severely wounded and traumatized girl who doesn't have a name anymore. Jasper immediately takes to her but can he save her from the darkness of her experiences?
1. Chapter 1

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**Finals** are finally over so I have a ton of time to work on this fic. It's a lot darker than Broken Wings, this deals with torture of both main characters so if you don't like that, stop now. This was made to help me develop a book idea while mixing it with fanfiction. I don't own any twilight characters.

Carlisle's POV

It was a Saturday night, relatively calm for us. The guys were out hunting after one of them had claimed to see a bear on the last hunt and now it was a race to see who could catch it first. Alice, Rosalie and Bella were alternating between their rooms and the garage. Esme was bustling around the house, rearranging just about everything. For some reason, she felt the need to shuffle around the flower vases, pillows and furniture in general. Nessie was already asleep, her hummingbird heartbeat sounding unusually loud in the quiet house. I was going through stacks of paper I took home from the hospital, needing to double check the files more than once. Even vampires could make mistakes. It was nice to get away from the chaos of summer when we couldn't go outside as often and the kids acted like caged animals.

We'd just gotten a few cases of children appearing after being gone for a few months, showing up battered and bruised. Most of them were young, ages ranging from six to eleven. Their injuries were small but many, mostly just cuts and bruises with a few cracked ribs but they were traumatized and not talking. One of the younger girls had had a panic attack when we tried to check her over, forcing us to sedate her when she couldn't calm down. The ones we could talk to remembered their names but said they knew nothing about who took them and they couldn't tell us how they escaped. I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. I felt terrible for these children and knew there were probably where they came from. Edward had come with me to visit earlier Saturday and said their minds were just black. Whoever had taken them made sure they weren't seen. He also mentioned something being off about them but he couldn't tell exactly what it was. I brushed it off as him not being used to being around severely frightened and abused children. We hadn't had a case this bad since our short time living in Maine.

"Carlisle?" Esme's soft voice made me jump and I resisted the urge to laugh out of nervousness. I'd gotten so wrapped up in working I hadn't heard her come in. "Are you alright?" She crossed the room and circled around my chair to wrap her arms around me from behind.

I shrugged slowly. "They're keeping me up at night….if it was allowed, I'd stay over at night but they're already suspicious." When the kids had first come in, I'd worked with them for hours and struggled to pass off as tired. I didn't want someone to take over with them. "I just want to make sure they're okay…they're paranoid about everything. Understandably of course, but that doesn't mean it's easy to watch." She smiled at me and took my hand, squeezing it lightly.

"It's a strange and sad but maybe it happened for a reason," my wife responded quietly. I have to smile at that, she's always believed in fate.

"I hope so." Anything else I could've said was cut off by Jasper rushing in the door and slamming it shut hard enough the glass shattered. Both of us were up in seconds and rushing down to the second oldest vampire in the house. "Jasper? What happened?" His dark eyes stared at us, lean frame trembling slightly. That scared me. Jasper was never one to really show emotions even though he'd changed a lot since he first came to us, seeing him actually look afraid wasn't something I was prepared for. "Jasper…son….talk to me."

"Girl…forest…bleeding. It's bad, Carlisle." His words came out breathy and fast. He wasted no time running up the stairs to his room. I grabbed Esme's hand and ran out, jumping through the broken door, pausing for a few seconds to send my pride to Jasper. I had no idea how he'd resisted but he did and even ran away from it. The other boys' scent wasn't that hard to pick up, I knew their usual hunting path. Then the scent hit me. From the strength of it, the girl had lost a lot of blood. They were only a few miles away. Edward and Emmett were keeping their distance from the human pressed back up against a tree. She was shaking hard, skin paler than ours, wide eyes looking around wildly. I found pure terror in her gray irises. She was topless, one hand across her chest and the other clutching at the tree for support. A multitude of gashes covered her shoulder and scars were layered atop scars. The deep bluish black color around her ribs told me they were broken. The only real clothes she wore were dark sweatpants, ripped and bloodstained, her feet were bare. I spotted some kind of tattoo on her right shoulder. The girl was tall and small by nature but I could easily count her ribs and see her collarbone. There was a bruise flowering on her left cheek. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps and I saw her wince in pain every so often. Dogtags fit snugly around her throat on a short chain and I could see one of them reading '6398'.

Some of the kids at the hospital had mentioned some of the older kids having numbers and my mind flickered back to all the information they'd told us. She had to be one of them but she looked to be about seventeen. Since Jasper couldn't stand to be around her, we had no one to calm her down. I stayed about fifteen feet away from her, trying to figure out the best way to approach. This was a new kind of fear I'd only had to deal with one other time. Unbridled terror caused only by torture. In one of the few months when Jasper was still new to our covens, something had set him off and the fear in his eyes then mimicked this girl's. "I'm not going to hurt you," I finally said in my calmest voice possible.

"T-That's"-she broke off, swallowing visibly-"what…t-they s-said t-too." Her voice shook so much I could hear her teeth chattering as she struggled not to cry.

I put my hands up in a placating gesture and she flinched. "I have nothing to hurt you with. I just want to help, I'm a doctor."

"L-Liar…p-people a-are b-born w-with t-things t-to…" She trailed off again, swaying slightly despite her support. Esme took a small step forward. I stepped away to let her try, figuring a female might have a better chance in reaching the girl.

"Think about it…if we wanted to hurt you, we'd just leave you here to die. We want to help." Mother logic. The change was immediate, the girl realized she was right. "We can help you." From the look of confusion flickering across her face, the concept of help was foreign to the human. "Will you let us?" The girl hesitated then slowly pushed herself off the tree and almost immediately fell. Esme ran forward to catch her and she skittered away, falling to her knees near the tree, cowering. Esme knelt by her, holding the girl's gaze. "You don't have to be afraid of us." The girl's increased paleness and shaking concerned me and I discreetly motioned for Esme to pick up the pace. I needed to get her checked out as soon as possible. "May I carry you?" My wife asked her in a mellow tone. The girl didn't answer, hesitating for three minutes before nodding. Esme scooped her up bridal style and sprinted back to the house. I followed, Edward and Emmett trailing behind me.

We returned to an even quieter house than before. That was good, I doubted more people would help and I assumed the girls had taken Jasper and left just to be safe with the blood. Surely Alice saw our decision to go after her. Esme set her gently down on the couch and I hurried down to the basement where I kept all of my medical supplies. I grabbed everything I might need; IV bags, a suture kit, gauze, a bowl of water, stray cloths and three sedatives just in case. I ran back up and splayed the things out on the nearest table in the living room. The girl's breathing hitched. "It's okay…it's all to help."

"Y-You're….g-going to…d-..d-drug me?" She started inching away from us.

"No," I said quickly. "I won't do anything without your consent. It's a habit of mine to grab it." I took a deep breath before asking my next question, "What's your name?" She blinked and looked at me blankly, confirming my fears.

"T-They…t-took…b-both. D-Don't k-know." A few tears slipped out of her eyes and my heart broke for her. She looked so alone, so confused and vulnerable.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Esme said, moving over to sit a few feet away from her. The girl's eyes were glued to her. "Will you let Carlisle fix you up?" Gray eyes flickered to me and I waited patiently. It only took two minutes this time for her to nod. Seeing as she wasn't wearing anything on top, I didn't have to ask her to take anything off and covering her up with something would've covered up some of her injuries that needed tending too. It only bothered me because I didn't even want to think about why she was wandering the woods topless.

I started with the warm water and cloths, gently wiping away the blood and dirt to see how bad it really was, making sure to warn her before I did anything. Almost all of her cuts needed stitching. I went slowly with disinfecting them, knowing it had to sting but she barely flinched which lead me to believe she was used to pain. She didn't wince either when I threaded the needle after sterilizing it in alcohol and started sewing her ragged skin shut. After I cut off the black surgical thread, I went back out to the kitchen to get her a glass of water and painkillers. She just stared at the glass and pills, making me wonder how many times someone had drugged her before. After four minutes of her staring, I sighed and took them away.

"I need to do a quick blood test so I know what to give you and I'm going to set up an IV. Is that okay with you?" I dragged over the pole and bag, making sure it was propped up with her laying down. She nodded again and I gingerly took her arm, pausing at the criss-crossed scars there. It reminded me of Jasper. I pushed those thoughts away and quickly slipped the needle into one vein. It took me only about fifteen minutes to figure out her blood type and get her a few transfusions. Her color was improving which I took as a good sign but she still looked exhausted. "Why don't you get some sleep?" I decided to leave her name up to the girls. She stared at me but her eyes quickly fell shut. I looked up to see Jasper in the doorway, frowning.

"How is she?" He asked in a monotone voice. I didn't respond until I'd draped a blanket over her.

"I really can't answer that. I don't know." I walked away from her, trusting Esme to keep look out for her.

"She's terrified," Jasper said smoothly and I wanted to laugh. Wasn't that obvious? He shook his head at me. "Carlisle, this is….that kind of animalistic terror. That everyone is out to get her, everyone wants to hurt her."

"I know. And I know you know." There was something in his eyes I couldn't read. "You should go hunting again tonight," I said to change the subject.

"I'm fine for now…you need me here if she panics." I didn't resent that he was right but he still needed to hunt. "I trust you on all things medical but this is not something you've dealt with before. Not with a human, at least. From what Edward and I gathered…she's been through hell and did not come out okay. You need to fix her, Carlisle. You have to….at least try to."

"I will. I promise."

**Well….this was not an easy chapter to write. Review please! I really want to know what you guys think of it**.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry this took forever to get up, I've been really busy with summer school and life in general. Have another chapter ^^ **

Carlisle's POV

Once it was clear the girl wasn't going to wake up soon after she'd been asleep for several hours, I started making plans to visit the hospital again to see if any of the younger kids knew anything about her. At least her name. Jasper and Esme stayed with her, Edward close by. He reported her thoughts as static, jumping around too fast for him to get an actual picture of what she was thinking about. Every time she tensed or got restless, Jasper set a hand on her shoulder and calmed her down. And every time she would flinch then go still. It worked, for the most part.

I went alone to the hospital, unable to do anything but wave at the receptionist and any passing nurses. The girl was stressing me out and I needed to know who she was and what happened to her. It was obvious from the children that they had all been abused in some form but I wanted to know to what degree, how far did someone go? And what kind of person kidnaps kids and beats them? None of them could tell me what the conditions had been like, they'd only described it as dark and cold. I couldn't blame them, with kids that young, it was natural for their brains to block out traumatic experiences like the ones they'd been through.

Jeremy was eight with shaggy blond hair and green eyes. He'd been one of the first to appear and I immediately took him in. He had brightened in the few weeks I'd cared for him, his skin no longer looked deathly pale and he had more energy. He talked animatedly about just about anything. He didn't shut people out, unlike some of the other kids and the girl. Jeremy didn't have many injuries, just small cuts and bruises and they were healing well, the staff was only concerned about his mental state. He seemed fine but I'd seen many cases where they hid behind a smile. It was all too common with abused kids. I'd thought about getting Jasper in to see how he was really feeling but it was impossible to predict an emergency without Alice and I didn't want to take that risk.

"Hey, kiddo, how you feeling?" I poked my head in the door and smiled. Jeremy beamed back, sitting up. I was pleased to see he looked even better than the last time I'd seen him.

"Pretty good….what brought you back?"

"Getting tired of me already?" I sat down in the chair by the door and scooted it closer. "I actually came here to ask you something." Jeremy immediately frowned and I quickly reassured him, "Nothing about your experiences…someone else's possibly." He tilted his head, obviously confused. "My family and I discovered someone last night in the woods…a girl, about sixteen or seventeen. She's one of you. Black hair, gray eyes, sound familiar?"

His eyes widened. "How is she? Is she okay? What happened?"

"Easy, Jeremy, one question at a time." I kept an eye on the monitors to make sure he calmed down. "She's…injured and I need to know all you know about her. I don't want to make any assumptions about what she's been through in order to treat her physically and mentally. We just found her."

Jeremy looked down, fiddling with the white sheets laid over him. "Um…that's…" He stopped and swallowed, looking around nervously, still slightly afraid of someone hitting him.

"It's okay, you're safe," I reassured him.

"She…that's sixty-three. Don't ask, I don't know what's with the numbers. I've only heard stories…Grace is here, she could tell you more. They said Grace knows her best. Well…they also say that she'd somehow get out and help kids who'd gotten themselves hurt."

"Gotten themselves hurt how?" I frowned, I knew it was common for cases like these to believe it was their fault for whatever had happened but it never failed to break my heart to see them completely convinced it was their fault.

Jeremy shrugged weakly. "Didn't call the…people by their assigned names, wouldn't submit, fought back, talked when not spoken to." I couldn't help but flinch at his words. "Rumors said she would…convince the…masters to let her take the beating. That's supposedly how they kept her in line." I fought back a growl. There was nothing I didn't hate about it. These kids had been through hell and there had to be more still missing. What were they going through? Something even worse? Were they being punished for the escapees?

"Thank you, Jeremy. Is there anything else I need to know?" I tried to smile at him.

"Don't call her any name," he said quickly. "Anything." Then what was I supposed to call her? He grinned at me. "You'll figure something out."

"Isn't it my job to be reassuring you not the other way around?" He laughed and I stood, moving closer to gingerly ruffle his hair. Jeremy was better than when he came in, no longer hiding under the furniture, but everyone still had to be careful around him in terms of physical contact. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Will you tell me how she's doing?" He asked hurriedly just as I opened the door.

"Of course. Now I suggest you take a nap." I walked out and immediately headed for Grace's room. I hadn't gotten to know her all that well, she'd only been in the hospital for a few days. Her room was down the hall, a few doors down from Jeremy's. A nurse I couldn't recognize from the back was in there, adding morphine to the girl's IV. I waited for her to go out before walking in.

Grace immediately looked up, eyes wide. The bruise on her cheek was healing nicely but she still looked too pale for my liking. "What…what are you doing here?"

"I need to ask you about one of the other kids. Jeremy called her sixty-three." I sat down on the chair, an exact copy of the one in Jeremy's room. We were trying to contact their parents but it was difficult with no last name for any of them. "What happened to her?"

"Oh…her. S-…her. She'd been there the longest as far as I know. They liked her…the…masters. We had to call them that because we are-were below them." She refused to look at me then. "I…I can still hear her screaming." Grace curled in on herself, heartbeat quickening and alerting me to the slightly off scent she had. It was human, yes, but twisted in a way I couldn't put into words.

"Hey, shh, it's okay. It's okay, you don't have to say anything else." I kept whispering to her until she calmed down.

"Did you find her?" Grace asked suddenly. "She…went missing before we got out somehow."

I smiled at her. "Yes, we found her. She's safe. You're safe." She hiccupped and mumbled an apology. "It's okay. Nothing to be sorry for. As soon as both of you are well enough, I could take her to see you. Would you like that?" She nodded once. "Alright then. I'll keep you updated and I'll see you in a few days. Sleep a lot more, okay? You need it." I slowly walked out, shutting the door carefully behind me. I found one of the nurses I often worked with and told her I'd be taking the rest of the day off. I had to get back home and see how everyone was doing.

The drive back took longer than I liked, despite the high speed I drove at. It was quiet when I neared but as I pulled into the driveway, I could hear muffled whispers and whimpers. _That's not good. _I raced in, barely remembering that I couldn't just fling the car door open without sending it flying. Esme and Alice were sitting cross-legged by the girl who had wedged herself under a desk in the corner, Rosalie standing nearby. Edward and Emmett were nowhere to be seen but I could hear them up in their rooms. Jasper stood on the opposite side of the room from the four, watching closely. I assumed Bella and Nessie were out somewhere. They weren't crowding her but I still feared a panic attack.

"You're safe, it's okay, no one's going to hurt you," Esme kept repeating. As I moved closer I could see the girl kneeling. The IV bag was empty and abandoned by the couch. She was paler than Grace although her cheeks were flushed with a possible fever. I made a mental note to get her on antibiotics as soon as possible, we didn't need an infection added to the mess. Alice was cooing something too softly for even our ears to catch. She still needed a name, I realized. The girl didn't work.

"N-No, p-please," she murmured, tears running down her face. Everyone in the room froze when Renesmee appeared in the doorway to the living room, walking over. She looked to be about ten at the moment. I saw the girl's posture relax just slightly.

Renesmee put her hand on the girl's cheek and she flinched back but Renesmee didn't let her get away. "See?" Renesmee murmured after a moment. "We won't hurt you." The girl nodded slowly. "Hm." Renesmee frowned and studied her. "Do you wanna pick a name?" Renesmee was bright, highly intelligent but she could still sound like a child if she wanted too. I assumed this time she was doing it to comfort the girl.

The girl shook her head and I almost laughed at my niece's expression. "You need a name…everyone has a name."

"I don't" was the only response we got.

"Oh! What do you think about Chance? You know…like second chance since you're with us now. We're your new family." Renesmee beamed at her. We could tell her we were her family but we wouldn't be until she accepted that. I knew the entire coven knew that.

"O-okay." I had a feeling she wouldn't have said so if she didn't like it but I also had a feeling she really was okay with it. Chance Cullen. I liked the sound of that.

** Their weird eye color not coming up will be addressed in the next chapter. I only own Chance, Jeremy and Grace, not the Twilight cast. Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I'm back. So sorry I haven't updated in a while, starting school soon and been trying to balance some stuff. I'll try to update at least once a week, possibly more. **

Carlisle's POV

I got her set back up with the IV and left her alone. The girls, Jasper and I gathered in the kitchen to talk. Esme was visibly shaken by the event. We'd all seen some bad things but this was new in a way. Rosalie kept glancing back into the living room at Chance, sympathy in her eyes that made me wonder if she knew something we didn't. Rosalie was smarter than most people gave her credit for, not just with cars but with people too. She knew how to read them and her compassionate side came out in a case like this. "Well…should we report her to the hospital?" Bella asked, appearing in the doorway.

"They'd make us take her in…I can't see that going over well." I shook my head. Going to the hospital as a patient was the exact opposite of what Chance needed. "We'll keep her here until she's at least close to healthy. Bella, could you see about running out for some soup? Plainest thing they have." The brunette nodded and went out the long way to the garage, careful not to pass by the living room. "You are all going to school tomorrow. I'll call you if anything happens, and if need be get you out on a family emergency."

Jasper tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly but he didn't say anything. "I'm staying with her," Rosalie said. Esme glanced to her, eyebrows raised. "I just want to talk to her."

"You can talk to her now," I responded slowly.

"She's sleeping…or as close to it as she gets. I need to talk to her," Rosalie argued in the all too familiar tone that said she wasn't budging.

"Will you at least tell us why?" Esme asked quietly. Rosalie shook her head. I could give her that.

"Alright…I'm staying down here with her. I suggest you all go hunting tonight." Esme took Alice's hand and bounded out the back doors into the trees. Jasper and Rosalie shared a look before following them. I shook my head. It was a wonder how much they acted like twins outside of the human world. I walked back into the living room, just then realizing how long Chance's hair was. It was tangled, matted in some places, and far past her shoulder-blades which got me wondering how she'd grown under such heavy abuse.

Chance was curled up in a tight ball on the couch, a blanket tucked around her. It couldn't be comfortable with her broken ribs but it was obviously a safety position. To be as small as possible, not much of a target. Her eyes were squeezed shut, one hand clutching at her dog tags. She was shaking slightly and her breathing had picked up. _Nightmare. _My brain supplied the word with ease. It would be hard to believe she didn't have PTSD. I had no idea how long she'd been in captivity but even a few months could go a number on someone. I absentmindedly stroked her hair and she jerked away from me, nearly falling off the couch. Without thinking, I lifted her and set her back near the pillows.

Her eyes flew open and she flung herself off the couch, knees hitting the floor hard. She kneeled there almost like someone praying except her hands were held over her head. I couldn't make out any word she said, it was just a bunch of shaking letters but she strung together "Please" and "No." Her tags rattled and she fumbled to silence them. The lights must have flickered because I could've sworn she looked almost transparent for a second.

"Easy, it's okay. You're okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." I quickly backed away to give her space. "Chance, you're okay." She looked up at me, not meeting my eyes but obviously confused at the name. "Don't you remember? That's you." She stared at me for a little while longer before turning away, jumping violently when the door just quietly as Bella walked in. "It's okay," I kept repeating. Bella quickly hurried into the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"N-n…D-don't…k-know," she stuttered, thin frame wracked with tremors. I could hear her heart pounding, breathing coming in gasps.

"How about you try some soup? Does that sound good?" I slowly extended my hand toward her. Chance looked up again through wild hair and looked at it like instead of a hand she saw a venomous snake about to strike. "I just want to help you up."

"D-don't…don't n-need h-help." She didn't move to stand.

"You can get up," I said quietly, knowing by then she wouldn't do anything unless told to. Chance slowly rose, using the couch for support and stumbling her way to the kitchen. It was hard to watch and I wondered if this was the most walking she'd done in a while. Her movements were too awkward and off, like a colt who didn't know what to do with it's too long legs. She stayed hunched over and promptly sat on the floor once she reached the kitchen. Bella already had a bowl of chicken broth ready and she set it down a few inches away from Chance.

The girl tilted her head and sniffed, crawling toward the bowl on all fours and eying it warily. The sight broke my heart. Chance lowered her face down to the bowl, took one lick like a dog before slowly drinking it. Bella raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. She only finished half of it, curling one arm around the bowl and eying us. "It's yours," I said quietly. "But if you keep it, it'll get cold and not so good." Chance didn't reply, just nudged the bowl along as she crawled back to the living room. I sighed and a ran a hand through my hair. Bella smiled at me.

"It's alright…she'll get better."

"I hope so," I mumbled. It had only been a day but it still hurt to see the damage. I couldn't begin to imagine what Chance had gone through. I could only see the after effects. With luck, it would take her a few years to at least get close to normal but I knew it would never completely fade. She'd always be afraid of something, always be wary and jumpy and I couldn't blame her. _Focus on now. _"Thank you," I added. She nodded and ran out of the house.

It was dark by the time all of them returned, silently slipping back into the house. Chance was asleep again, under the couch this time. Jasper stayed in the living room and I left him there. If anyone could keep her from nightmares, it was him. She needed all the sleep she could get, we could figure out what exactly happened to her later. Everyone dispersed to their own rooms. I sat in the kitchen, wanting to stay close by just in case anything happened. I had to go see Jeremy and tell Grace, Chance wouldn't be coming by any time soon. I doubted we could get her out of the house.

** Review and subscribe please ^^ tell me what you think and what you'd like to see happen next. Put it in a PM or a review, I don't care, I want your opinion. Thanks! **


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